College students are becoming an attractive target for identity thieves, reports The Review Online. The reasons being that the majority of enrolling college students are naive and feel they are at a low risk of being targeted and do not take the proper precautions in protecting their identity.

Right out of high school, students are barraged by crediting agencies, preying on their clean credit history and desperate need for financing. Unfortunately, a lot of college students simply toss these in the trash without a single worry.

In a study conducted for Chubb Group Insurance Companies, research found that 30% of college students who receive credit offers simply throw them in the trash, leaving them intact and readable, and vulnerable to identity thieves.

As society moves to a more digital age, the Internet becomes a digital playground for identity thieves. College students live on the Web, updating their social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. No matter what medium of communication, there is always a common tactic used by thieves.

The majority of the time, though, the identity thief will attempt to seem legitimate posing as a bank, asking to verify account information by sending them personal information such as a social security number or bank account number.